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Tipsy Honey Cake

Rosh Hashana means honey cake. To start the new year off with a sweet bite, traditionally we serve and eat honey itself or items made with honey. In my family, we’ve always made a version of this boozy honey cake. The finished cake doesn’t taste overly alcoholic, but it does add to the overall flavour of the cake.

What a list of ingredients! It’s long, but easy to put together and produces a moist and flavorful honey cake. My favorite honey to use for baking is buckwheat. It has a stronger flavour that holds up to the other flavours in the recipe. Having said that, over the last few years I’ve found it impossible to find buckwheat honey and have made it with several other types (most typically, clover honey) and it’s still delicious.

The cake recipes also calls for what we call ‘rye’ up here, but I’ve been told in the US is often known as “Canadian whiskey” or “rye whisky”. You can use rye, whisky or rum.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice and ginger. I like to use a whisk to combine all of these ingredients.

In another bowl, combine the hot tea, honey, rye and orange juice.

Using either a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the oil and white and brown sugars. Add the eggs, mixing them in one at a time. Add the vanilla and orange zest.

Add one third of the liquid and mix on low speed. Add one third of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Repeat until all of the wet and dry ingredients have been incorporated.

Pour into a bundt pan that has been sprayed with vegetable oil and lightly floured. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. If the cake starts to brown too quickly, loosely tent a piece of aluminum foil over the cake for the rest of the baking time. Let cool completely and then turn the pan over and carefully unmold the cake onto a serving plate. Typically, the bottom of a bundt becomes the top when you take it out of the pan, but I really like the way the ‘bottom’ of this cake comes out and always keep it on the top when plating.

Wrapped well, the cake can stay on the counter for a couple of days. Freezes beautifully.

Unless I’m working on a recipe, or baking something for a holiday, I don’t often bake at home. But sometimes the mood hits and I want the house to fill with the aroma of something delicious baking in the oven. Generally, this means I want a simple recipe , something that’s easy enough to prepare during the week, but special enough to make for Sunday morning brunch or to enjoy with a hot mug of tea.

These Maple Pecan Biscuits are just the thing. A really easy recipe that doesn’t require any special equipment and only takes a short time to assemble and bake. These are on the rustic side, so don’t waste time trying to make them look perfect. The dough shouldn’t look uniform when it’s ready to bake — you should be able to spot little pieces of butter mixed in with the chunks of pecans. And when they’re done, eat them while hot and crumbly with a little butter and a warm drink to wash it down.

Maple Pecan Biscuits

1 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, chilled and cubed

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup milk (2%)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Place the pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast the nuts for 5-7 minutes, or until they are just starting to brown. Set aside until cool. Increase the oven temperature to 400°.

In a mixing bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar together. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter, forks or your fingertips to work the butter into the dough. You want the work the butter into pea-size or slightly smaller pieces, but not completely incorporated into the flour.

In a measuring cup combine the maple syrup and milk and mix. Pour into the dry ingredients and use a fork to combine. Use your hands to bring the dough together and then turn it out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pat the dough into a rectangle that has a uniform 1″ thickness.

Cut the rectangle into 8 squares, then cut each square in half, into triangles. Move the pieces around on the tray so that there’s room between all of them.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 16-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve hot out of the oven on their own or with some butter. Though they will keep for a couple of days if they’re well wrapped, these really are best when served fresh and still warm.